Restart

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Aralia

A cold draft rushed out of the room, as if all the warmth had been sucked out. Appropriate for Restart I would think. Like everything in the School, the room was white. There were Holo-Visions plastering all the walls, surrounding a single chair. In it was a small boy held by restraints.

I was struck with fear. Mira wanted to undermine the whole Restart system. But these people...are monsters. I couldn't do this. And I admit I was ready to be abandon everyone. I turned to leave, but I knew I couldn't. I turned toward the boy. He looked about nine years old and his eyes were wide.

Maybe I couldn't do this, but right now, an innocent kid needed to be saved. And I happened to be in just the right the position to do so. Gears clicked in my mind. This was Mira's plan all along. To get me wrapped up in this whole ordeal. Once you make a move against Restart, there is no going back. No ifs. I had to save the boy, I had to save everyone. I had to be the person they all needed. A savior.

In a matter of seconds I was in action. Metal restraints. I could use my new ability to open the lock but I wasn't sure how smart that would be. It turned out not to be a problem at all. The key was on a table in the far corner. A click of the key and he was out.

The boy looked into my eyes. Then in a blur of motion, jumped out of the chair, and ran out the door, his hands covering his ears and murmuring something. I ran after him, hoping against hope he would not get us caught.

"Stop!" Another turn down the sterile hallway, and he was gone. I stood in place, momentarily lost in despair. But I needed to think rationally. If I had been locked up in Restart where would I go? And now I'm realizing that I am the biggest idiot in the world. I WAS locked up in Restart. And the only place I wanted to go to was somewhere, anywhere, that was away from here.

The roof. He would try to get to the roof. That's one of the first ways I had planned an escape. But the good thing was that at the time, Restart had both underestimated my Gift and my resistance to the Influence. Not many had ever escaped this prison. And those who did knew what they were getting into- knew that even if they escaped they wouldn't be safe. They would have nowhere to go, and nowhere to hide. These were all things I knew when I broke out. Another thing I knew- there was no way off the roof. That's why I had used my Gift to break the wall of my room. And trust me, it wasn't easy. I had to slowly use the plant to crack away the wall. Windows were much easier to break than their walls. And all this, I did without alarming Restart. It had been the only way. Now there was NO way. If I was right, then this kid, Robin, was in serious trouble. There were Guards along the stairway to the roof. Nothing too formidable, but everyone knew that once you leave for the roof there is no coming back. I knew I was risking a lot by going after Robin. But I wasn't the kind of person who turns away from a fight.

I took a left at the end of the hallway, then a right, then another left. I was so glad that I had memorized the layout of Restart last time I was here.

In front of me was a door labeled 'staff only'. They wouldn't just label it 'roof'. Because not everyone knew about the roof. But this kid definitely did. There was a small glass window above the door that was far out of my reach. But it was shattered. The boy must have climbed through it. But I have no idea how he got up that high. I used my strange hand-plant thing to unlock it. And boy was this strong charge. For a moment all I saw was darkness. Then I bit down on my tongue again and breathed deeply through my nose. I opened my eyes and was about to enter the stair case when something stopped me. Actually, nothing stopped me. And that was the point. No guards chasing after me, no guards in the hallways, no guards even on the stair case. Something was wrong. With a new sense of unease, I climbed the stairs. I was met with dead silence.

After a few minutes, I had finally reached the roof. But the door from the stairway was wide open. I gulped and stepped forward. Just as soon as I did though, a pair of strong arms grabbed me by the shoulders, and held my arms behind my back. So that's were all the guards had gone. They had been waiting for me. But how? Had the whole thing a trap all along?

The guard pulled me up onto the roof and dragged me into the middle of an entire mob of guards, while I kicked and screamed. I couldn't use my Gift. He had put a Blocker Bracelet on my wrists-handcuffs that stop Gifts. And yes they really work. As I prepared myself for the worst, the guard shoved me forward so that I was standing face to face with the Principal.

"Welcome Aralia. I'm glad you could join us." His voice had the signature Restart accent that haunted me. To the left of the Principal was Robin, held by Guards. "I see you're clearly confused. Well, this may help. Mira?" Then from behind him, stepped Mira. Her eyes had a certain glassy quality and when she looked at me, there was no hope. The hope I had seen whenever she had spoke about defeating Restart. I had seen this hopeless, distant look far too often. She was under the Influence.

"What have you done to her!?" I cried.

"We have finally perfected the new Influence. Something in the boy's test went wrong, but you see, we learn from our mistakes. And Mira here, has benefitted from it."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked with panic coursing through every vein.

"You see, it's your turn now. After the new Influence, you may as well have no memory of this at all." My eyes widened. But I was ready for action. I had let my arms go slack, surprising the guards so that when I pulled I broke free from their grip. I jumped at the Guards holding Robin.

"Run!!" I yelled. But Robin, who I knew has been murmuring the whole time that we've been up here, was finally close enough so that I could make out what it was that he'd been saying.

"Fly. Fly. Must fly. Have to fly. Gotta fly." Is what he'd repeating, over and over again. Much as if he was telling himself, reminding himself of this single thought. And this all happened within moments. Soon the Guard had pushed me off and Robin had started to run toward the edge of the roof. Multiple Guards grabbed hold of me, but I watched as the Guard chasing Robin brushed his fingers against Robins shirt. Just a breath away from catching him. But before that could happen, Robin jumped. I gasped. If he fell then he would definitely not survive. But I could tell that he was not going to land on the ground. I may be blonde, but I'm not an idiot. I smiled when I saw Robin's small silhouette grow smaller in the sky. His Gift was flight. I had guessed as much. And he had gotten away. I nearly laughed, but then cold realization hit me. I had not gotten away.

"Take her to the Room." Yelled the Principal. The guards dragged me down the stairs, away from the roof.